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4 out of 5 buyers’ agents say home staging helps

WASHINGTON – March 15, 2019 – A new survey from the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) found that 83 percent of buyers' agents say staging makes it easier for buyers to visualize a property as their future home. The survey, NAR's 2019 Profile of Home Staging, is available online.

"Realtors understand the importance of making a residential property as welcoming and appealing as possible to potential buyers. While every Realtor doesn't use staging in every situation, the potential value it brings is clear to both homebuyers and sellers," says NAR President John Smaby.

More than half of sellers' agents said that staging a home decreases the amount of time a home spends on the market, with 25 percent saying that it greatly decreases the time and 28 percent saying it slightly decreases the time.

Television's impact on homebuyers

The report contains a new section called "Buyer Expectations," which focuses on how home buying television shows impact Realtors' businesses and how they've changed homebuyers' views about the home buying process.

While 38 percent of respondents say that television shows on the home buying process have had an impact on their business, 32 percent witnessed no impact and 31 percent do not know if they have an impact.

The report found that 20 percent of buyers were disappointed by how "real" homes look compared to homes they saw on television shows; 39 percent of respondents found the home buying process more difficult than they expected; and 10 percent of respondents say that buyers felt homes should look the way they do when staged on TV shows.

Only 6 percent of buyers' agents said that staging had no impact on buyers, while 40 percent said staging has an effect and 52 percent said staging affects some buyers.

Staging's impact on the home sale

Buyers' agents say that the living room is the most important room to stage (47 percent). The next most important are the master bedroom (42 percent) and then the kitchen (35 percent). Sellers agents agree but in reverse order. The guest bedroom is considered least important.

Forty-four percent of buyers' agents report that staging increased the financial offer on a home; 25 percent say it increases its dollar value by 1 to 5 percent, and 12 percent said it increases the dollar value 6 to 10 percent. But 29 percent of buyers' agents say it has no impact on dollar value. Only 1 percent of buyers' agents felt it has a negative impact.

Sellers' agents report even more value added from staging: 22 percent reported an increase of 1 to 5 percent in dollar value; 17 percent reported an increase of 6 to 10 percent; 5 percent reported an increase of 11 to 15 percent; and 2 percent reported an increase of 16 to 20 percent.

No sellers' agents reported a negative impact from home staging.

When deciding which homes to stage, 28 percent of sellers' agents say they stage all of their clients' homes before listing them, while 45 do not stage homes before listing them, though they do recommend that sellers declutter their homes and fix any faults within the property. Another 13 percent said stage only difficult-to-sell homes, and 7 percent stage only homes in higher price brackets.

"Realtors have the expertise and local market knowledge to know which properties and specific rooms will benefit the most from staging, which is why working with a Realtor is so vital for sellers in today's housing market," says Smaby.

Who pays for the home staging? The seller pays before listing the home 18 percent of the time, while sellers' agents personally provide funds in 26 percent of cases; 17 percent of the time, agents will offer home staging services.

In addition to staging, 95 percent of agents recommend decluttering the home, 89 percent recommend an entire home cleaning and 83 percent recommend removing pets from the home during showings. Other pre-sale projects include carpet cleaning, depersonalizing the home and making minor repairs.

Information is provided by My Florida Regional MLS DBA Stellar MLS. IDX information is provided exclusively for consumers' personal, non-commercial use, that it may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing, and that the data is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed accurate by the My Florida Regional MLS DBA Stellar MLS.

Listing data feed last updated on September 15, 2019 at 12:37 pm UTC+0000